(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile device of folding type. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hinge device for a mobile device of folding type in which a cover rotates with respect to a main body upwardly or downwardly.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, mobile devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs, laptops, and DMB phones, are widely used for wireless services such as broadcasting and communication in a mobile fashion.
The mobile device is becoming an important necessity for convenience in life with the development in the information industry, while mobile phones being are used by elementary school, middle school, and high school students to the old.
A variety of methods are used to open/shut a cover of the mobile devices, and they can be largely divided into a folding type, a slide type, and a swing type.
In particular, the covers of the mobile devices are opened/shut by being rotated with respect to a main body upwardly or downwardly in the folding type. Such mobile devices of the folding type have several advantages, such as convenient, robust, and refined design. Therefore, the folding type has been the most widely used in recent years.
In the mobile device of the folding type, a keypad is mounted at the main body and a display is mounted at the cover. When the cover faces the main body (that is, an angle between the cover and the mainbody is 0°), the cover is shut. If the cover rotates with respect to the main body upwardly, the cover is open.
Opening/shutting operations of the mobile device of the folding type are achieved by means of hinge devices, and manufacturers have recently manufactured the hinge devices having various structures.
Hinge devices for a mobile device of folding type according to conventional arts include a housing, a rotating cam, a movable cam, an elastic member, and a hinge shaft, and the cover of the mobile device can be opened/shut by interaction of these constituent elements.
According to the mobile device of folding type having such a hinge device, a pair of first hinge arms confronting each other is formed at both upper sides of one of the main body and the cover, and a second hinge arm is disposed between the first hinge arms at a middle portion of the other of the main body and the cover.
Herein, the hinge device is connected to any one of the first hinge arms and to one side of the second hinge arm, and a rotating shaft is mounted at the other of the first hinge arms and at the other side of the second hinge arm.
Since the hinge device, however, is connected to any one of the first hinge arms and the second hinge arm according to conventional arts, the second body fluctuates when the cover is open from the main body. Therefore, durability and reliability of the hinge device may be deteriorated. In addition, assembling processes of each component may be complex. Since the hinge device occupies large region at an engaging portion of the cover and the main body, it is difficult to reduce size of the mobile device.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.